Sports

SHANGHAI,  (Reuters) – Chinese basketball icon Yao Ming has been taken aback by Jeremy Lin’s rise at the New York Knicks and thinks his style and size could make China’s state sports system rethink how it selects and grooms its athletes.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Michael Schumacher can be a winner with Mercedes this season but ideally he would be alongside double world champion Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said yesterday.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Chris Paul poured salt into the wounds of the ailing Denver Nuggets with 36 points and nine assists to carry the Los Angeles Clippers to a much-needed 103-95 home win on Wednesday.

STOCKHOLM, (Reuters) – Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva showed she was back to her best with an indoor world record of 5.01 metres to win the event at the XL Galan indoor meeting in Stockholm by 29 centimetres yesterday.

TORONTO,  (Reuters) – It is too early to call it a Motor City revival but like the auto industry the Detroit Pistons are showing signs of life as the National Basketball Association (NBA) heads into the All Star break.

MIAMI, (Reuters) – In a small chapel at the Miami Heat’s arena, New York Knicks sensation Jeremey Lin offered a simple prayer three weeks ago.

SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – Basketball legend Michael Jordan has filed a lawsuit in China against a Chinese sportswear company, accusing the firm of unauthorised use of his name.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Formula One teams and sponsors have no concerns about racing in Bahrain this year and the grand prix is definitely on despite continuing unrest, the sport’s commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone said yesterday.

(Reuters) – Australian captain Michael Clarke has said he was partly responsible for the sacking of former skipper Ricky Ponting from the one-day squad.

STOCKHOLM, (Reuters) – Cuba’s Dayron Robles powered to victory after rival Liu Xiang was disqualified for a false start in the 60 metres hurdles at the XL Galan meeting in Stockholm yesterday.

(Reuters) – French cycling prospect Yoann Offredo has been banned for a year after three “no shows” for doping controls.

(Reuters) – Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal bowled superbly at the death to inspire Pakistan to an eight-run victory over England in the first Twenty20 international in Dubai yesterday.

ZURICH,  (Reuters) – Manchester United scraped into the last 16 of the Europa League yesterday, narrowly avoiding a humiliating elimination after being outplayed and losing 2-1 at home to Ajax Amsterdam.

MARANA, Arizona, (Reuters) – Tiger Woods’ bid for a first PGA Tour victory in over two years ended prematurely yesterday when he lost one-down to fellow American Nick Watney at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – Besides the urgings of boxing fans around the world eager for Manny Pacquiao to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr.,

KINGSTON,  (Reuters) – Jamaican triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt will miss his second consecutive scheduled meeting of the season on Saturday so he can concentrate on training, his agent said.

By Iva Wharton If the main bout of Saturday’s World Boxing Council’s (WBC) Champions Cup between Guyana’s Wayne ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite and Shawn Cox of Barbados is anything like the verbal exchanged witnessed at a press conference hosted by the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) yesterday, then patrons will surely get their monies worth.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica Cricket Association has slammed the West Indies Cricket Board over what it terms “unjustified and disrespectful” criticisms levelled at Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller.

BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – Guyana middle order batsman Assad Fudadin says last weekend’s Regional Four-Day match against Combined Campuses and Colleges will hold special memories after he carved out his maiden first class hundred at Warner Park.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Former Trinidad and Tobago captain Daren Ganga has been called up to a 15-man squad in preparation for their fourth round tussle with Windward Islands in the Regional Four-Day Championship starting here tomorrow.